Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-06-22
A DIAMOND ROBBERY.

one of the houses which appeal only to
the patronage of those who are not com.
PEELED to count the cost of their accommo-
dations. lie secured bed room and sit
ting room OF the third floor He WAS an
old man, and his health so precarious that
he spent most Of his time indoors, leaving
the houke only on the warm, clear days,
which are so infreQuent during the early
part of May in London. After he had
been there few days, the lady who had
occupied the suit Of rooms immediately
beneath his left for the continent, and
the American engaged these for q friend
of his then on the way to London The
friend arrived, and two highly respectable
American gentlemen Were now installed
one over the other. The first arrival
say Mr. A--left a considerable sum of
money, in English bank notes, in the care
of the manager Of the hotel In the
course OF some casual conversation with
the manager, he subsequently gave the
latter to understand that he was q Chi
cago railway man Of great wealth. The
manager had every reason to believe him,
for Mr.. y, so far from trying to obtain
accessive credit at the hotel, or to cash
drafts on Chicago, had deposited GUAM
tity of ready money in the safe, aud paid
on this fund. In due course the manager
learned that Mr.. AS daughter was about
to be married, and Mr.. A consulted him
as to where he should go to buy her
sufficiently valuable set Of diamonds
to be worn by q rich mans daughter,
who was marrying another rich man.
The manager, with his fat commission
In view, arranged to go with Mr.. A to
one OF the largest jewelers. in Bond street
and assist him in selecting the stones. He
was himself he said, connoisseur, and
MIR. A admitted that he knew very little
about diamonds and that his eyesight was
impaired. AS luck would have it. Mr..
AS cough grew worse daily, and the time
approached when he wanted to dispatch
the stones to Chicago without his having
been able to go to Bond street The man
ager ventured deferentiaily to remind him
of this, and Mr.. A said that he had about
made up hixmind to let his business cor
respondent in New York buy the stones at
Titfany's, even if they were little more
expensive than they would be in London.
The manager saw that little commission
Of his receding toward the conveyance
of the lines of perspective, aid proposed
to Mr.. 4 that the man in Bond street
should send around some stones for him
to whether the man would be disposed to
send round a large assortment of really
fine goods.
The manager said there would be no
trouble about that, and he himself went
round to see the jewelsr, made an ar
rangement about the percentage, which
was satisfactory to both parties, and the
jeweler promised not only TO send around
the best sets he had, but likewise to get
a larger assortment on approval from the
diamond brokers, according to their usual
practice, and submit those also.
1t should he noted here that Mr.. A
had told the manager that he did not care
SO much for enormously large stones as
for stones of great brilliancy-real old
Brazilian and Indian diamonds. His in
tention was to let his daughter have them
set in such forms as she might herself
prefer, unless, indeed, the jeweler should
happen to have something very striking
in the way of hair ornaments, bracelets OF
necklaces already set.
The man Of Bond street was q good, old
fashioned, conservative west end trades
man, and when he saw what an enormous
sum the assortment of jewels which were
going to the hotel aggregated, instead Of
sending Il man with them he went him.
the leather bag containing the stones, and
who YVES, mere is a matter of habit than
because any special precaution seemed
necessary, armed with one of those fearful
and wonderful English revolvers, which
are about as convenient to carry as al So
ton gun, and take about as long to cock
and fire. 1t was, indeed, more because
the jeweler wanted to conduct the nego-
tiation in person and use his own judy
ment as to how stiff price he could insist
upon than because he had any misgivings
about the good faith of the purchaser that
he went to the hotel himself.
Arriving there, the manager accom-
panied him and his porter to Mr.. AS
room. Mr.. "A was reclining on a sofa be-
fore the fire. The jeweler unlocked the
bag, which was chained round the porter's
waist, and the manager removed a num-
Der of books and papers from small
table which stood by the sofa. On this
table the jeweler arranged n tempting dis
play Of set and unset stones worth in the
aggregate, at his prices, some 91S, 600, of
which he hoped to be able TO sell about
one-fourth, judging from the way in
which the manager had spoken of his Gus
toner.
Now, what was the position of affairs!
self. his armer porter and the manager Of |
the hotel, man OF unimpeachable integ- |
rity. Aside from the presumption that |
Mr.. A was n most highly respectable indi- |
yidual, which in this case seemed to |
amount to moral certainty, he was n
weak man, attenuated by long illness, |
about which there could be no deception.
The odds were, in reality, far more than
three to one, and a pull at the bell would
have made them more than that. The |
jeweler pointed to the various sets and |
stones, stating their weight, character and
price; and in the instance of one superb
necklace telling Mr.. A a curious history
of the great nobleman who had been re-
Gently obliged TO dispose Of it among his
family jewels Mr.. A listened with great
interest, and then said:
''It must be n nervous sort of business
handling these things. l should be afraid
the devil would fly away with them,
think!''
The jeweler snilingly assured him that
he did not worry very much about that,
1t any rate.
Mr.. A. then excused himself while he
went into his bedroom 3 moment, remark
ing that he expected friend of his who
vas in the hotel to come up there in q
moment, and wanted his advice in making |
the selection.
As the door closed behind him, the
jeweler smiled at the manager and the
at the jeweler. The leweIer
thought OF his profits and the manager
thought OF his commission.
A moment later there was a little noise,
Es, "a of n l